


Body language

by withered



Series: Who's been lovin' you good? [69]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: But like in a heartbeat?? IDK, Enemies to Lovers, Extremis Tony, M/M, Not Steve Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sexual Content, The Soldier is murderous, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:34:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29066640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withered/pseuds/withered
Summary: Tony is dangerous, and James does dangerous every day, twice a day. And when it comes to Tony, James will do that as often as the opportunity arises.And it does.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Series: Who's been lovin' you good? [69]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/918138
Comments: 97
Kudos: 896





	Body language

James reads people for a living. It's one of his lesser-known skills, one he takes advantage of after Princess Shuri exorcised the hydra shaped demon clutching at his brain and gave him the full extent of his control back.

He reads rooms that are too tense, the civility fabricated and flimsy; he reads individuals, angry and ambitious and greedy to use and be used.

He isn't sure if he had this skill before Hydra and the war, but it's honed to a knifepoint, and he can pick up a liar and a bastard like sorting through mail.

Steve falls in the former category.

Despite what he thinks he's doing by saying that James won't have to fight anymore, James isn't naive. And unlike an alarmingly large amount of people, the Captain America propaganda shtick never really worked on him. That James can read every lie worth a damn in Steve's every action from a twitch in his facial muscle to the stiffening in his shoulders, only twists James' lips into a bitter smile.

He doesn't let it deter him though. He's been surrounded by people like Steve for a large portion of his existence. He's survived this long on more painful lies from more convincing liars, and it isn't like he's the first person Steve's lied to so blatantly.

He and Tony made it out at least.

And while James knows from the start, well, as much of a start as he's been allowed after being defrosted for the second time in so many months, Tony hadn't the luxury.

Still, there's no deception in Tony's body language or the minutiae of his expressions: he's tired of everyone's shit -- the Rogues, the bureaucracy, the newly reformed Shield -- everyone he's ever warned that more was coming, and who no one listened to until the Titan had sent an envoy in a confident declaration of Earth's surrender. Tony made it clear, their presence in the Compound and in the United States, was for that and that alone. Assuming they made it out of this alive, whatever happens, would be up to them. Anything else was bullshit, and he didn't have the time, energy, or inclination.

Of course, Steve's never been good at boundaries, and James takes almost gleeful pleasure in putting him down before Steve ruins this opportunity for freedom before it's even begun.

It won't be the first time James has to do it. Steve is as stubborn as he is self-assured.

James does his best not to enjoy it as much as he does, but Tony's surprise, his relief and his gratitude present in the drop of his jaw, the flush of color at his cheeks and his lopsided smirk is enough for James to keep dropping irritants at Tony's feet like offerings.

After all, Tony Stark is a lot of things, but he is not a liar.

And there are promises in his dark eyes that James intends to cash in on.

Tony not being a liar though, is both good and bad, he realizes later because Tony is the second: an absolute bastard.

Not in the way Barton complains about or that the Witch has tirades over, oh no, that would've been as easy for James to deal with as it had been dealing with Steve.

But Tony is a bastard for precisely the same reasons that he is also a good person: he doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks, he's unpredictable at best and chaotic at worse, and he is beholden to no one but his own moral code. It would make him incredibly dangerous if Tony hadn't retained such a breathtaking amount of humanity in the loss of his own, but that's neither here nor there.

The point is that Tony _is_ dangerous, and James does dangerous every day, twice a day. And when it comes to Tony, James will do _that_ as often as the opportunity arises.

And it does.

The thing is, people tend to make assumptions about Tony. Hell, they make assumptions about James. Though, to be fair, people tend to make assumptions about anything.

But sometimes those assumptions are right.

Tony counts on it.

It's been said that Tony's brain is classified as a weapon of mass destruction, and James doesn't doubt it. He's witnessed the manifestation of Tony's ideas, harmonizing concept and reality in the things he creates and fixes every day. He's seen Tony verbally spar with just about anyone who crosses his path, poking and prodding for a reaction, a truth, and they always give it up, one way or another. Not even trained agents like Romanoff can weave a web around him, not when Tony's tongue alone is as cutting and precise as the laser in his watch.

Even before Extremis and the Nanotech, Tony has been as much a living weapon as James himself. Tony's exploits are well documented, half of New York saw Tony fly that nuke into a black hole in person. There's a village somewhere in Afghanistan that watched Tony rise from the proverbial ashes in a metal suit he built from scrap, still injured, still haunted; still fucking furious.

There is nothing fragile about Tony, nothing soft.

If not for the warmth of his skin against the coolness of James' prosthetic, the fullness of his hips or his belly in James' palms; James might be convinced that Tony had no give. He might even be convinced that Tony had no mercy if James hadn't felt the fuzziness of Tony's beard against the soft part of James' thighs, and hadn't heard the endearments, encouragement, the praise Tony would lap onto James' tongue.

If not for the fond tilt of Tony's mouth whenever he smiled and the honey sweetness of his eyes when he was pleased, James could be swayed by Steve's declarations of Tony being some unfeeling machine.

But James has heard the rhapsodies Tony exhales, had felt him tremble and beg and, no. There's nothing unfeeling about Tony. Not that James is surprised.

Steve's always been a liar; if his attempts to get drafted were any indication, and Tony's never presented himself as anything he wasn't.

People are thrown off by the fancy suits, the gadgets, the flashy displays; they get wrapped up in Tony's pedigree and bank account and the self-possessed confidence of a man who has fought demon after demon that came out of the abyss and still had the nerve to smile at the empty.

He is brilliant and terrifying, an amalgamation of trauma and coping mechanisms, and what must be a deal with a God to keep getting up no matter who's doing the swinging.

Tony is hard to read simply because he makes it easy. He's an open book who will read every line with you if asked. But that's the thing, James supposes, no one asks.

And well, James has always been more hands-on about things.

While Extremis has washed away a large majority of Tony's scars -- the wounds are there, Tony remembers them, can pinpoint their locations like they're landmarks of him; the only monuments that matter.

James pays his due respects.

Above him, Tony laughs. "Can't fool me, Killer."

He flicks his gaze up, knowing how he looks in his current state when Tony meets his gaze and groans like he's in pain.

"There is nothing religious about this," Tony continues, "I'm pretty sure we qualify for at least two different types of hell in this position alone."

James smirks, tracing where he knows the ghost of a scar just above Tony's pelvis sits; with tongue, with teeth. James' lips move in a mock of a kiss, "What is religion but worship?"

Tony's breath hitches.

"Yeah, yep," he babbles, "you and me are definitely on a one away trip." When Tony reaches out though, fingers tangling in James' hair, he doesn't pull him off, doesn't tell him to stop.

"First class?" James teases, mouthing along the scar on Tony's thigh.

"Anything you want," is his hoarse reply, and James makes a noise like he's considering it. Breathlessly, Tony laughs.

Brazenly, James licks a long stripe up Tony's cock, relishing in the full-body tremor that sends shock waves up and down Tony's body. He doesn't wait for it to stop before he's tonguing at the head and lapping at the pearlescent beads that gather. Only when the noises Tony makes go rough, his breath stuttering does James squeeze Tony's knee.

Immediately, he's brought back from the edge at the same time that James withdraws. Tony's inhales are loud, his eyes large and black and frantic. "Fuck, fuck, James, just --"

Inches from his cock, James peers up at him with equally dark eyes and crones, "Fuck my face, darling."

If Tony weren't so intent on watching, he'd have dropped back in exhaustion, as it is, he grits his teeth and accuses, "You're a bastard."

James huffs a laugh, readjusts his position at the foot of the bed to take the pressure off his own aching cock, the ring at the base preventing him from getting off at all since they started an hour ago. He thinks he can be forgiven for the cruelty. "Takes one to know one."

Tony's breath is offended, but his blush runs down his chest. It's a miracle considering how hard he is. But Jesus, he's beautiful. He looks like he's a hot second away from climbing James' shoulders and feeding James his cock until he chokes.

Honestly, the thought has merit, James thinks, licking his lips, and with the way Tony narrows his eyes, it looks like it could still be on the cards.

With a plush kiss to the head of him, James drawls, innocent and infuriating, "Whatcha gonna do about it, darling?"

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY, SO. saltyunicorn very casually asked if I was doing something special for entry 69, and I wasn't. I wasn't going to. Because that would be childish.
> 
> Which I am. 
> 
> I don't know why I wanted to pretend differently, but have some literary edging anyway.


End file.
